Madam Speaker, I see the hon. member did not quite understand what I meant. If I misunderstood, then everyone in this House misunderstood.
When I look at the provisions in this bill, they propose a certain amount of flexibility but then go on to say that the federal government may do such and such for the purposes of "maintaining national standards, where appropriate-". What happens if the programs proposed by the Government of Quebec do not suit you? The bill goes on to say: "-maintaining national standards, where appropriate, in the operation of social programs". This means that if these programs do not suit the present government, it will create a national standard.
What will happen to the Canada social transfer for education, if we consider that Quebec accounts for 25 per cent when deciding whether it is appropriate or not and the remaining 75 per cent will be able to vote on national standards? What will happen in the education sector, when we realize that this area comes under the jurisdiction of the Government of Quebec and we have a francophone majority in Quebec, while you constitute an anglophone majority in Canada? National standards might not be appropriate to the education system in Quebec.
I realize that the parliamentary secretary is exercising his own judgment in this debate, but I do not think he has the requisite sensitivity to decide which programs could be implemented in Quebec.